Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: A few (more) words on The Hobbit

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  • BenWilson,

    Could you stomach one more piece of analysis?

    One tiny little after dinner mint?

    I especially enjoyed reading how you, Giovanni, were responsible for this whole crisis, cleverly manufactured from the lofty heights of your ivory tower. You effete Hobbitphile.

    Trotter's outdone himself.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Andre Alessi,

    I especially enjoyed reading how you, Giovanni, were responsible for this whole crisis, cleverly manufactured from the lofty heights of your ivory tower. You effete Hobbitphile.

    Look out New Zealand, we left-leaning fantasy fans of Italian extraction are here to direct your unwashed masses to some kind of Galtian revolt!

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report

  • Martin Lindberg,

    Oh, it's a badge of honour. Always.

    Oh, you and your lofty condension (sic).

    Stockholm • Since Jul 2009 • 802 posts Report

  • Petra,

    ...the condom wrappers under the bed!

    eeew!

    Are you sure they weren't just sleeping bags for mice?

    Rotorua • Since Mar 2007 • 317 posts Report

  • 3410,

    hobbits probably weren't responsible for the condom wrappers under the bed!

    Actually, a hobbit is a hybrid cross between a hobo and a rabbit, as I understand it.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • nzlemming,

    Looks like the thrust of the Hamilton piece is not "my union, right or wrong" but "all unions, right or wrong", that solidarity trumps solid discourse. If that's the best the Left can offer (and I use the capital deliberately), it's no wonder the union movement is not in the ascendant.

    I'm with Leonard Cohen:

    I'm neither left nor right
    I'm just staying home tonight
    Getting lost in that hopeless little screen

    At least Hamilton was politer in tone than the Standard, but not much in content.

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report

  • nzlemming,

    Oh Petra! You've got to stop believing what the nuns tell you...

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report

  • alobar,

    And the production was? Spartacus. The one that has never heard a peep from the actors' unions.

    They'd be targeting Go Girls long before Spartacus , extras on spartacus get paid and treated a lot better than on go girls (and any other nz productions i've been an extra on , and the views a lot better too ! )
    And from what I've heard from other extras I was fortunate not to be on the King Kong set - hours were a lot longer on that

    auckland • Since Apr 2010 • 63 posts Report

  • alobar,

    Isn't the person running sparticus like the husband of one of the key agitators in the whole hobbit debacle, which might suggest why it wasn't targeted.

    I'd have thought Lucy L was too busy on the Spartacus prequel set to be bothered doing the agitating ?
    But her daughter signed a pettion against the boycott.

    auckland • Since Apr 2010 • 63 posts Report

  • Petra,

    An excellent reply to Scott Hamilton's piece, Giovanni! Brava!

    One thing that popped into my mind as I read Hamilton's post and your response: unions need to change with the times - get themselves another "business model", for want of a better term. They need to adjust if they are to effectively achieve their goals, or they will be held back by old school, old hard left thinking. The world has changed, and they need to find new solutions to old (and new) issues. Then they might be better able to serve the needs of the worker.

    I haven't got as far as thinking up any new ideas yet, though. Typical. Tch!

    Rotorua • Since Mar 2007 • 317 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Isn't the person running sparticus like the husband of one of the key agitators in the whole hobbit debacle, which might suggest why it wasn't targeted.

    Or more likely, the home office in Redfern decided "Most people wouldn't have a clue who Starz and Rob Tappert are." To put it politely, Spartacus wasn't exactly going to air with high expectations.

    That's my theory, anyway -- and you don't have to go below the girdle on Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Michael Hurst to get there.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Petra,

    Oh Petra! You've got to stop believing what the nuns tell you...

    Rotorua • Since Mar 2007 • 317 posts Report

  • BenWilson,

    The main problem with all that Marxist analysis is <deletes long dissection> that it's all been done before, and the doing of it is a major impediment to actually looking at what is actually happening in each case. If "The Fog of Class War" hasn't been coined, I'll make my pitch, because it seems to be the main strategic aim of many of the anti-Hobbit polemicists. So long as a fairly straightforward negotiation of terms and conditions in a workplace can be cast as part of "The War on Capitalism", then basically no action can be reproached.

    Which was a foolish move, particularly here and now, because the "The War on Communism" in NZ has all the power and support. The Fog is opaque in both directions.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Danyl Mclauchlan,

    Wow - 'Reading the Maps' is a little like finding out that one of those Japanese snipers that hid in the jungles of PNG until the 70s has his own blog.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 927 posts Report

  • Petra,

    Nic Farra (does s/he post here?) wrote:

    The totalitarian tendencies of the left are where leftist organisation inevitably and historically head. Also inevitably, this leads to the bosses victory and the continued hegemony of the State. The unionists and the social democrats are far too concerned with jostling for power to consider completely overturning all means of control. Come to think of it, that's the whole point. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. However the left WILL be fooled again. And again. And again.

    That's how I feel about both the hard left and the hard right. They are authoritarians/totalitarians, jostling for power. One just uses the poor rich man, the other the poor poor man. Two sides of the same coin.

    "Capitalism is man's exploitation of man. But with Socialism it is the other way around."

    Rotorua • Since Mar 2007 • 317 posts Report

  • martinb,

    Sorry I haven't had time to read the whole thread, but perhaps a better conspiracy theory might be US actors trying to sabotage 'runaway productions' through the same international conditions thing?

    Auckland • Since Jul 2010 • 206 posts Report

  • Kumara Republic,

    One thing that popped into my mind as I read Hamilton's post and your response: unions need to change with the times - get themselves another "business model", for want of a better term. They need to adjust if they are to effectively achieve their goals, or they will be held back by old school, old hard left thinking. The world has changed, and they need to find new solutions to old (and new) issues. Then they might be better able to serve the needs of the worker.

    Matt McCarten seems to have got it right so far, unionising those workers who wouldn't normally join a union. He seems more bolshie than the CTU, but still comes out as a champ of the underdog instead of a bunch of whingers, for the simple reason that he has a good supply of media savvy. The EMA's Alasdair Thompson was even on record saying that McCarten was 'entrepreneurial' for a union official.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report

  • BenWilson,

    Wow - 'Reading the Maps' is a little like finding out that one of those Japanese snipers that hid in the jungles of PNG until the 70s has his own blog.

    You definitely find it hard not to write satire. LMAO.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Petra,

    I don't know much about Matt McCarten but, on your analysis, I think I can safely say I like him.

    Rotorua • Since Mar 2007 • 317 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    spooky?

    Indeed - I wonder if the French equivalent of Simon Whipp is threatening a global stop work order if Polanski does not revert to shooting proper French films with French actors instead of this les rosbifs travesty! :)

    I don't know much about Matt McCarten but, on your analysis, I think I can safely say I like him.

    I'm tempted to donate $20 to his Mana by-election campaign. God, the air of condescending entitlement from Goff on Morning Report made me want to go out and kick the neighbours cat. (And I've got to say my own party are just as bad.) Why don't we just save a lot of time, money and energy by removing those silly voters from the electoral process entirely?

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Ross Mason,

    WTF

    So. The first extra piece is added to the clusterfuck.

    The hobbit bills covers "game production"

    “film production means the production of a film or video
    game

    Bill here

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report

  • Andre Alessi,

    I personally find 'Reading the Maps' pretty great reading normally; thoughtful and erudite.

    But it's a pretty good sign that certain elements of the Left have lost their way when they start arguing that workers don't know what is best for themselves in industral disputes, and should just shut up and do whatever <pick self-annointed union-flavoured spokesperson> tells them to do.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report

  • Andre Alessi,

    The hobbit bills covers "game production"

    Pretty standard with this sort of thing. And trust me, this is not something to worry about. Most games won't be developed here at all, or if they are, it'll be limited to using elements of the film production in a game that is still made off-shore: screencaps, costume design, sound recordings, etc.

    Total budget for most game development is tiny compared to the film budget anyway. Turbine (for example) has launched and maintained a Lord of the Rings-related game for 4-5 years without spending more than $10 million USD (if that.)

    The most likely stuff that would be done on-shore, assuming a game was actually produced locally, would be something like a browser-based Facebook game, which is absolute peanuts to produce (especially given the really low production values involved in most movie-tie-in games.)

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report

  • Matthew Poole,

    The hobbit bills covers "game production"

    Given that it appears to be a fairly wide-ranging industry bill, rather than a specific The Hobbit bill, I'm not surprised. Voice-overs, for one.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report

  • Ross Mason,

    But what about the game industry like Sihde?????

    But what shits me is that there was absolutely no mention of games at all in any converstaion over the last 5 weeks.

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report

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